If the ice cream is melting, it brings me no pleasure. I prefer my ice cream hard.

All these Republicans are asking is for women who had sex against their will to stop calling that "rape."

— Eric Nelson (@ericatwiley) August 27, 2012

A Hoax of a Hoax

Sharpton Caller Spreads Hoax Romney Quote on slave ownership radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2012/08/sharpt…

— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) August 28, 2012

From the link:

Ever wonder where kooky "progressive" conspiracy theories get their start? Monday's Al Sharpton radio show provides a case study.

During his syndicated Keeping It Real program, the reverend engaged a hoax caller in all seriousness as that person spread an outrageous "slavery" lie about Mitt Romney and his family. It apparently originated with a political parody site.

Though Sharpton did express a limited degree of skepticism during the call, his response did little to keep a crazy new claim from spreading across America.

This is why hosts have call-screeners: to keep out the riff-raff and check out assertions before they reach the airwaves. A smarter (or more honest) talker would have seen right through this absurdity:

Throughout the call, Sharpton seems about 50% suckered, not especially skeptical until its conclusion. We'll expect a full retraction during his next program, but will that be enough to stop this new lie from taking on a life of its own?

published by Brian Maloney at 00:00

I heard nothing about this until Riehl's Tweet... so Reihl is complicit in spreading this lie.

re: #3 Kronocide

A Hoax of a Hoax

[Embedded content]

From the link:

I heard nothing about this until Riehl's Tweet... so Reihl is complicit in spreading this lie.

Until someone provides proof that Romney was talking about slave labor it will remain a hoax of sorts.

re: #4 Gus

Until someone provides proof that Romney was talking about slave labor it will remain a hoax of sorts.

Agreed.

re: #5 Dark_Falcon

Agreed.

People were doing that with Apple. Apple does not employ slave labor. Here's an example. Some website called Uproxx posts this headline:

NY Times Investigation Confirms That Apple’s Factories In China Are Basically Slave Labor Camps

But when you go over to the NY Times article they link to there is not mention of slave labor:

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

The speak of harsh and sometimes brutal condition but that does not equate to slave labor. We are losing control of the English language and there are many different forms of this just as much as the Godwins. Harsh working conditions is not slave labor.

re: #6 Gus

People were doing that with Apple. Apple does not employ slave labor. Here's an example. Some website called Uproxx posts this headline:

NY Times Investigation Confirms That Apple’s Factories In China Are Basically Slave Labor Camps

But when you go over to the NY Times article they link to there is not mention of slave labor:

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

The speak of harsh and sometimes brutal condition but that does not equate to slave labor. We are losing control of the English language and there are many different forms of this just as much as the Godwins. Harsh working conditions is not slave labor.

Nor are they Apple's factories...

re: #7 Mocking Jay

Nor are they Apple's factories...

That too. It's Foxconn.

Mitt's campaign is going so bad they got a sales call from Bain Capital today.

Sarah Palin Cheers Convention Floor Fight buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpoliti... via @buzzfeed

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) August 28, 2012

re: #10 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Of course, she's supporting it. She doesn't like Romney and Romney doesn't like her.

I'm going to bed. Good Night, All.

re: #10 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Looking forward to Mitt securing even less of the female vote with a well deserved "Someone please shut that bitch up!"...Sorry, Mitt...but she belongs to your team. you're #winning!

When Chris Wallace rips you a new asshole for not dumping foreign tax shelters, you're screwed. #p2 #forward #obama2012 #Romney

— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) August 28, 2012

Liked yopur film: it's good to have goals in life and principles, but don't let them get in the way of enjoying everyday pleasures...

Weird night. Things are getting rather desperate out there. The RNC is bringing out the worst in some people. Lots of Godwins and false equivalencies.

re: #14 darthstar

[Embedded content]

Have you read this by David Brooks?

re: #17 Gus

Have you read this by David Brooks?

After his governorship, Romney suffered through a midlife crisis, during which he became a social conservative. This prepared the way for his presidential run. He barely won the 2012 Republican primaries after a grueling nine-month campaign, running unopposed. At the convention, where his Secret Service nickname is Mannequin, Romney will talk about his real-life record: successful business leader, superb family man, effective governor, devoted community leader and prudent decision-maker. If elected, he promises to bring all Americans together and make them feel inferior.

Decision due soon in Israel re civil suit brought by family of Rachel Corrie, the young American woman killed by the Israeli army...

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) August 28, 2012

@mmflint So the whole of the "Israeli army" killed Rachel Corrie?

— Gus (@Gus_802) August 28, 2012

Science!

Wish I was famous. Then I could say stupid things and get away with it.

re: #16 Gus

Weird night. Things are getting rather desperate out there. The RNC is bringing out the worst in some people. Lots of Godwins and false equivalencies.

I missed the "rape is a form of conception thread", but the strategy seems to be to make Mitt seem "moderate" for supporting rape and incest exceptions to their anti-abortion legislation.

Of course, Ryan and Akin and their buddies will make sure that the exceptions are worded so strictly that no woman will be able to take advantage of them.

So basically, if you are a woman and appear in public without a chaperone, you are running the risk of being raped and carrying the rapist's baby. And even if you only spend time - as in Saudi Arabia - in the company of male relatives, you could still wind up bearing a child of incest.

In other words, you have no chance...

Now they're blaming Caterpillar. Science!

Put on your asbestos suit and visit #RememberRachel.

I do think though that the Corrie family deserves some compensation. Which still doesn't put me in line with the majority of people there who seem to have lost any hope of reason or logic.

re: #24 Gus

Now they're blaming Caterpillar. Science!

Maybe blame the person who thought laying down where heavy duty construction equipment was being operated under combat conditions was a good idea.

re: #27 Kragar

Maybe blame the person who thought laying down where heavy duty construction equipment was being operated under combat conditions was a good idea.

Silence! You're ruining their narrative. It's TEH JUICE!

Uh oh. No he's done it. Ruling seems to be "an accident."

I would have split the difference. Now they're demanding stronger BDS.

More blaming of Caterpillar. These people aren't very bright.

re: #29 Gus

Uh oh. No he's done it. Ruling seems to be "an accident."

Weird. Its like when someone recklessly puts their life in danger, they might actually die from their own stupidity.

re: #31 Gus

More blaming of Caterpillar. These people aren't very bright.

Its like blaming Boeing for the WTC.

re: #33 Kragar

Its like blaming Boeing for the WTC.

Bingo.

I'm going to borrow that. ;)

re: #33 Kragar

Its like blaming Boeing for the WTC.

Blaming Caterpillar for Rachel Corrie is like blaming Boeing for the 9/11 attacks that killed 3,000 people.

— Gus (@Gus_802) August 28, 2012

Science!

Alas. To the semi-reputable Guardian (cough, hack).

Rachel Corrie verdict: death was an accident, Israeli judge rules
Judge finds no fault in military investigation that cleared defence force of responsibility in protester being killed by bulldozer

Whatever. Idiots.

There is a similar scandal involving charges that Germany sold the Byelorussian police nightsticks, shields and helmets used to beat protestors.

Now I could understand the outrage if the Germans had sold them something like high-tech surveillance equipment unavailable anywhere else in the world, but police equipment is pretty much standard stuff you can get from most any country.

Asshole!

Craig and Cindy Corrie spent almost 10 years fighting for accountability from a rogue state. Humanity owes them a major debt of gratitude.

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 28, 2012

@maxblumenthal Go fuck yourself.

— Gus (@Gus_802) August 28, 2012

re: #41 Gus

Asshole!

[Embedded content]

They went after the Palestinians for recruiting kids to be useful idiots for them? When did that happen?

re: #43 Kragar

They went after the Palestinians for recruiting kids to be useful idiots for them? When did that happen?

Mondoweiss is a hate group.

— Gus (@Gus_802) August 28, 2012

Rogue state. Shit. I know what that means. I might be a fool but I wasn't born yesterday.

Gah.

Feck it. Blocked JC Christian and unfollowed. Not in that order.

Idiots.

Been a while since I've done detailed inking. Forgot what a pain in the ass it can be. On the bright side, I now have 6 full squads of Wolf Guards.

we are down to a baseball team here...or two polo teams and a referee...

That being said. The person who runs Obama's Tumble site is an idiot.

re: #50 Expand Your Ground

we are down to a baseball team here...or two polo teams and a referee...

5 games of 40k at once

Tired of caring about people that don't care about me.

re: #52 Kragar

5 games of 40k at once

When doing large-scale Napoleonics (we use 2,000 figures or more) you need multiple commanders for the cvalry, artillery, skirmishers, etc...

Coming up on the 200th anniverary of the battle of Borodino...

re: #55 Expand Your Ground

When doing large-scale Napoleonics (we use 2,000 figures or more) you need multiple commanders for the cvalry, artillery, skirmishers, etc...

Coming up on the 200th anniverary of the battle of Borodino...

40k is built around platoon to company sized engagements, depending of the forces you're using, types of armies etc.

I enjoy that kinda playing, but my buddies want to command entire corps and divisions...so I go along, as long as we get to cover the table in figures.

I think Romney's going to win.

Romney needs some major event to turn things around for him, a natural and/or man-made catastrophe that can be used as a backdrop to portray Obama in a crisis of leadership, something to mobilize people beyond the GOP base to get out and vote against Obama.

If things simply stay as they are or (*God forbid*) improve by November, he will not be able to motivate anybody beyond the birthers and bigots.

re: #58 Gus

I think Romney's going to win.

You think more of his chances than many Republicans

re: #57 Expand Your Ground

I enjoy that kinda playing, but my buddies want to command entire corps and divisions...so I go along, as long as we get to cover the table in figures.

We get up to battalion sized once in a while. Its a matter of scale and table space. 40k is around the 35-40mm scale for models.

My colleague @drewmikk spoke w/father of alleged anarchist militia leader by phone today, & confirmed Isaac Aguigui was Page at RNC in 2008.

— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) August 28, 2012

Father of Army Soldier accused of plotting to overthrow government: "Very disheartened...you do your best to teach your kids right & wrong."

— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) August 28, 2012

We made the long trip to Cashmere to talk to him tonight...you'll see more coming up at 10 on KONG and 11 on KING5.

— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) August 28, 2012

re: #61 Kragar

We get up to battalion sized once in a while. Its a matter of scale and table space. 40k is around the 35-40mm scale for models.

My figures are all 1/72.

My fave is to play a physical scale of 1:300 and 1 figure = 3 soldiers. Then you get to really appreciate the tactical aspects of 2 vs. 3 ranks, skirmish lines, close and open colums, etc, and it still looks halfway realistic.

But that limits things to nothing bigger than a battalion on the board.

My friends usually wanna do 1:1000 scale and 1 figure = 30 soldiers, which is a bit more stylized but allows for bigger units.

Blast from the past:
[Link: campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com...]

The principal media consultant for the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future, which will be running many of the anti-Obama ads over the next ten weeks, is Larry McCarthy, who produced the original Willie Horton ad.

re: #63 Expand Your Ground

My figures are all 1/72.

My fave is to play a physical scale of 1:300 and 1 figure = 3 soldiers. Then you get to really appreciate the tactical aspects of 2 vs. 3 ranks, skirmish lines, close and open colums, etc, and it still looks halfway realistic.

But that limits things to nothing bigger than a battalion on the board.

My friends usually wanna do 1:1000 scale and 1 figure = 30 soldiers, which is a bit more stylized but allows for bigger units.

Everything we run is 1 to 1. My Imperial Guard (light infantry) is a reinforced company of around 130 men, plus a tank platoon of 3 tanks, 4 APCs, plus 9 light scout vehicles. Additionally, I can bring in a platoon of 30 special forces in VTOL transports if I feel the need. That takes up a bit of space.

Last I checked, John McCain never suggested openly that his rival's base was welfare recipients. Or did I miss that part?

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) August 27, 2012

Morning, all

Off to get a little sleep, 'night all.

re: #64 freetoken

Great morning choice.

These are the kinds of classic pieces for people who say they don't 'get' classical music,

TY

re: #70 researchok

Not my favorite potboiler, but the performance is first rate.

And now the song which helped me pass my AP college chemistry lab final. I rewrote the lyrics to cover every step we needed for the lab and sang it to myself during the exam. Got an A.

On reflection, I realize now I've probably heard Motorhead live more than any other band simply because they've been the opening act at other shows so often. A couple times for Maiden, once for Metallica, one or two shows I saw in the early 90s. Weird.

re: #72 Kragar

I had a roommate who listened that 24/7.

For one semester.

Actually, he was a good guy, but 24/7 was more that I (or the guys next door) could handle.

Last I heard he went into audiology.
/

re: #74 researchok

I had a roommate who listened that 24/7.

For one semester.

Actually, he was a good guy, but 24/7 was more that I (or the guys next door) could handle.

Last I heard he went into audiology.
/

Never really a big Motorhead fan, just liked a few of their songs. I just noticed I've seen them more in concert by accident more than design.

re: #75 Kragar

All I know is I've mellowed with age.

Queen rocks, though.

Morning Honcs.

re: #77 Cannadian Club Akbar

Morning Honcs.

Did you bring coffee,, pastries??

re: #78 sattv4u2

Did you bring coffee,, pastries??

Chock Full O' Nuts, two biscotti. There's plenty on the sink, cups in the left hand cabinet.

re: #78 sattv4u2

Did you bring coffee,, pastries??

I'm drinking reheated coffee.

re: #80 Cannadian Club Akbar

I'm drinking reheated coffee.

I do one cup a day, and I do it right.

re: #79 Decatur Deb

Chock Full O' Nuts

Yeah,,CCA is a little crazy!

re: #82 sattv4u2

Chock Full O' Nuts

Yeah,,CCA is a little crazy!

Should be a 2012 convention slogan. Won't say which party out of Early AM sensibilities.

re: #83 Decatur Deb

Should be a 2012 convention slogan. Won't say which party out of Early AM sensibilities.

We have none!

(off checking Weather Underground... No, not that Weather Underground.)

Cannabis smoking 'permanently lowers IQ'
[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]

Can someone explain this story???
/

re: #86 sattv4u2

Cannabis smoking 'permanently lowers IQ'
[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]

Can someone explain this story???
/

Could have, once.

re: #86 sattv4u2

Cannabis smoking 'permanently lowers IQ'
[Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]

Can someone explain this story???
/

When we were teenagers, somebody sold us pills that were purported to contain synthetic THC, which we swallowed by the handful, no smoke or smell to hide... But they were not THC, they were veterinary tranquilizers, PCP.

I am sure that had an effect on lowering my effective IQ.

re: #88 Expand Your Ground

When we were teenagers, somebody sold us pills that were purported to contain synthetic THC, which we swallowed by the handful, no smoke or smell to hide... But they were not THC, they were veterinary tranquilizers, PCP.

I am sure that had an effect on lowering my effective IQ.

That, and you love to fetch frisbees!

I was just reading the comments in a story about Samuel L. Jackson. Someone mentioned that Marco Rubio can't be President because his parents are from Cuba. Stoopid has no boundaries.

re: #90 Cannadian Club Akbar

I was just reading the comments in a story about Samuel L. Jackson. Someone mentioned that Marco Rubio can't be President because his parents are from Cuba. Stoopid has no boundaries.

Funny how that Birther crap can work....

re: #89 sattv4u2

That, and you love to fetch frisbees!

If I only had the motor skills to catch them...

My buttons aren't working.

There we go.

re: #93 Cannadian Club Akbar

My buttons aren't working.

that's why they invented zippers...motor skills issues again, I see.

re: #91 Decatur Deb

Funny how that Birther crap can work....

Weren't people saying that McCain couldn't be President because he was born in Panama, albeit on a military base?

re: #96 Cannadian Club Akbar

Weren't people saying that McCain couldn't be President because he was born in Panama, albeit on a military base?

yup

re: #97 sattv4u2

yup

I just read more of the comments. Man, stoopid is strong. Sheesh.

Image: 120529-romney-birth-714p.grid-8x2.jpgre: #97 sattv4u2

yup

Romney's dad was born in Mexico, not on one of our bases, and ran for Prez. That makes the 'joke' rather lame.

Image: 120529-romney-birth-714p.grid-8x2.jpg

Randy Lee Tenley Killed While Trying To Create Bigfoot Sighting

Want to see the money quote?
Flathead County officials identified the man as Randy Lee Tenley, 44, of Kalispell. Trooper Jim Schneider said motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.

Color me shocked.

re: #100 Cannadian Club Akbar

Randy Lee Tenley Killed While Trying To Create Bigfoot Sighting

Want to see the money quote?
Flathead County officials identified the man as Randy Lee Tenley, 44, of Kalispell. Trooper Jim Schneider said motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.

Color me shocked.

I never knew Bigfoot was a heavy drinker!

Morning all!

re: #99 Decatur Deb

Image: 120529-romney-birth-714p.grid-8x2.jpg

Obvious fraud is obvious. The pixels are all wrong and it says "void" all over the damn thing. Does he think we're stupid?

re: #96 Cannadian Club Akbar

Weren't people saying that McCain couldn't be President because he was born in Panama, albeit on a military base?

Yep. And the Democrats introduced a bill to explicitly say that McCain was eligible. I remember thinking how classy that was.

[Link: www.salon.com...]

And now the GOP is explicitly endorsing birthers at the highest level.

re: #102 RogueOne

Morning all!

Obvious fraud is obvious. The pixels are all wrong and it says "void" all over the damn thing. Does he think we're stupid?

AND ,, there's only one "mother" listed
As a Mormon, I'm sure good ole George had a half dozen or so!!!

/

re: #103 Obdicut

But, but, the people were commenting on the internet!! That makes them experts on the Constitution!!!
///

re: #105 Cannadian Club Akbar

I'm less worried about the people commenting on the internet, and more concerned that Romney is endorsing birtherism. It's really contemptible.

Well, that's embarrassing:

Leader of Army Plot to Assassinate Obama Apparently Attended the 2008 Republican Convention as a Page

[Link: gawker.com...]

re: #107 Decatur Deb

Well, that's embarrassing:

Leader of Army Plot to Assassinate Obama Apparently Attended the 2008 Republican Convention as a Page

[Link: gawker.com...]

All just a plot to distract us from the real threats against America: Islamic terrorism, anchor babies, creeping Sharia, UN rule, gay marriage and contraception!

re: #108 Expand Your Ground

You are obviously a Marxist false-flag troll. Next time lock the caps key.

re: #109 Decatur Deb

You are obviously a Marxist false-flag troll. Next time lock the caps key.

I apologize for my lack of patriotic resolve...I am weakend by the creeping cultural decay that surrounds us.

re: #110 Expand Your Ground

I apologize for my lack of patriotic resolve...I am weakend by the creeping cultural decay that surrounds us.

That, and you've been busy chasing cats and burying bones!!

(extension or earlier posts!!)
//

re: #111 sattv4u2

That, and you've been busy chasing cats and burying bones!!

(extension or earlier posts!!)
//

nah, just licking my balls...because I can.

////////////

re: #107 Decatur Deb

Well, that's embarrassing:

Leader of Army Plot to Assassinate Obama Apparently Attended the 2008 Republican Convention as a Page

[Link: gawker.com...]

What does that idiot have against apples?

re: #113 Cannadian Club Akbar

What does that idiot have against apples?

Microsoft fanboy?

re: #111 sattv4u2

That, and you've been busy chasing cats and burying bones!!

(extension or earlier posts!!)
//

Oh hell--time for the morning dog walk. BBL

re: #114 Decatur Deb

Microsoft fanboy?

If I got 500K because my wife died I could find something better to do with the cash.

re: #116 Cannadian Club Akbar

If I got 500K because my wife died I could find something better to do with the cash.

LE is starting to re-look the 'dying' part.

When I lived in Canada, Quebec wanted to part ways with the country. The people in Ontario wanted them to get their wish. Well everyone might be happy soon.
[Link: www.reuters.com...]

Good morning Lizards. Hazy and humid in Philadelphia, but "sunny" as always.

Things are rolling towards the Labor Day weekend - and me taking a week off. In the mean time, coffee, dealing with SAP security, and helping the desktop support person here deal with a persistent Java-worm virus that is popping up all over the network. :p

I also have to arrange for a cat sitter for His Imperial Crankiness on short notice. This might prove problematic. Alternative is boarding him with the vet, which is more expensive and he hates.

RT @gopconvention Welcome delegates to the 2012 Republican Convention! Remember to set your watches back 400 years.

— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) August 28, 2012

I think Borowitz killed the thread,

re: #121 makeitstop

I think Borowitz killed the thread,

It takes time to turn our clocks by that much. :-P

re: #42 Gus

[Embedded content]

This is the whole problem with the Rachel Corrie thing. Those following the trial and the evidence closely are doing so for the sake of a political agenda and a political verdict. At issue is whether a particular bulldozer driver did see Rachel Corrie before he ran over her. He says he did not. Rachel's friends believe he did. Awfully tough to come to a conclusion in the circumstances ( Both have good reasons to lie too). In reality it is the actions of both the driver (representing the military) and Rachel Corrie (representing the protesters) that many think were on trial. Simply not the case. Rachel Corrie's death was regrettable of course. Razing of houses may or may not be collective punishment, but suicide bombing likely is. Considering the cycle of violence in place at that time I am not so quick to judge. The moral of the story is that a war zone is no place for civillians. It is bad enough that those who live there are caught up in it. Protesters entering a war zone with the deliberate intention of impeding one side's carrying out of their war are putting themselves in harms way. Rachel did not deserve to die, but she acted so recklessly that her death should not be so shocking either.

Ugh, what's with all the bright light outside? Somebody turn off that damned light, I need more sleep!

re: #124 Targetpractice

Ugh, what's with all the bright light outside? Somebody turn off that damned light, I need more sleep!

Somebody keeps turning ours on and off over here. Pick a weather pattern and stick with it, I say!

Christie offers up nonsense about Romney's birther comments.

“I think he would tell you he wishes he could take that one back,” Christie told Matt Lauer on The Today Show.

At a Michigan rally last week, Romney told the crowd, “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.”

Christie said Romney has been the most vocal of all the republican candidates in batting down so-called “birther” speculation.
“He believes the president was born here in the United States,” Christie said.

Romney hasn't been all that vocal in stomping on the birther nonsense. And Christie could have been more forthright in denouncing the birther crap himself. Instead, he's playing the political angle of not criticizing the top of the ticket on this. All while other GOPers are free to make baseless claims about the president's US citizenship.

re: #125 makeitstop

Somebody keeps turning ours on and off over here. Pick a weather pattern and stick with it, I say!

Do NOT give Varek any excuse for imploding the sun. I for one am fairly pleased with the The Large Yellow Sphere of Fusion as it is.

And our President is on air

re: #128 Daniel Ballard

Of course Obama makes it all about him/// and to think he is having a presser the day the GOP convention starts. That is criminal////

"...an Angry Birds-style Android game...that's designed to educate users on the radicalism of President Obama." mojo.ly/Rjaoev

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 28, 2012

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer accuses Obama of race-baiting thkpr.gs/RjtlO9

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 28, 2012

re: #129 Petero1818

I bet they thought they'd have a bona fide hurricane by now when they set that up. I'm just grateful this (so far) looks like a storm that will fall short of damaging or fatal. I'm sure the critics will say he was crying wolf, when we just might be lucky.

Best wishes to all on the gulf coast. Hopefully, like our smallish earthquakes recently it's just good practice for how to react or prepare.

Hey, conservatives. Hear how crazy Akin's rhetoric sounds to you now? That's pretty much how you all sound.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 28, 2012

re: #132 Daniel Ballard

I bet they thought they'd have a bona fide hurricane by now when they set that up. I'm just grateful this (so far) looks like a storm that will fall short of damaging or fatal. I'm sure the critics will say he was crying wolf, when we just might be lucky.

Best wishes to all on the gulf coast. Hopefully, like our smallish earthquakes recently it's just good practice for how to react or prepare.

Sounds a lot like about a year ago when the hurricane threatened the East Coast, got massively played up, but then fell short of devastating New York City or Philadelphia. Though there was a lot of flooding damage from the storm surge and wind damage in outlying locales that the media essentially ignored.

Another reminder that the media doesn't want your eyes and ears in order to make you informed. They want them so that they can then sell advertising.

Romney Camp bets on Welfare attack: "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers." buzzfeed.com/bensmith/romne...

— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) August 28, 2012

NYC and Brookfield Properties suing each other over damages resulting from the cleanout of Zuccotti Park's OWS protests. Various individuals and groups associated with OWS have sued NYC, the NYPD and Sanitation Department over the damage/destruction of personal property, including computers, tents, and books at the OWS library.

NYC has brought in Brookfield as a 3d party defendant.

It looks like a way for the City to shift blame for the cleanup costs to Brookfield, even though it was city agencies that carried it out.

As a reminder - the park is owned and operated by a private entity for public enjoyment. It's existence allowed Brookfield to build with air rights on the adjacent skyscraper.

re: #134 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Sounds a lot like about a year ago when the hurricane threatened the East Coast, got massively played up, but then fell short of devastating New York City or Philadelphia. Though there was a lot of flooding damage from the storm surge and wind damage in outlying locales that the media essentially ignored.

Another reminder that the media doesn't want your eyes and ears in order to make you informed. They want them so that they can then sell advertising.

Ah yes, Irene. The storm that made an even bigger joke out of the Weather Channel. The rain did a hell of a lot of damage, but it was not the NYC sinker that the weather guys were gearing up to report on.

re: #134 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Irene just missed a direct hit on NYC that could have had devastating consequences. The storm surge fell just short of inundating dozens of subway tunnels and that would have shut down vast portions of the subway system (at a cost of billions of dollars). However, the system veered off to the East, meaning that the brunt of the storm was out over Long Island, where it still did significant damage.

The biggest problem is an ongoing one - flood damage in New Jersey and upstate NY, and VT, NH and MA. Many communities are still struggling with the consequences of the flood damage.

And yet, we got lucky here in the NYC metro area. It could have been even worse.

re: #130 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Game trailer:

Oh and as a bonus, on the website for the game, the designer is asking for donations to help promote the game and its "charitable cause".

re: #138 lawhawk

I drove through Florida City a year after Andrew. It still looked like a war zone.

re: #135 Lidane

[Embedded content]

"Facts? We don't need no stinkin' facts!"

re: #138 lawhawk

Irene just missed a direct hit on NYC that could have had devastating consequences. The storm surge fell just short of inundating dozens of subway tunnels and that would have shut down vast portions of the subway system (at a cost of billions of dollars). However, the system veered off to the East, meaning that the brunt of the storm was out over Long Island, where it still did significant damage.

The biggest problem is an ongoing one - flood damage in New Jersey and upstate NY, and VT, NH and MA. Many communities are still struggling with the consequences of the flood damage.

And yet, we got lucky here in the NYC metro area. It could have been even worse.

Yep. I rode it out here in Philly (shut down our server room Friday and brought it back up Saturday afternoon once the "miss" was obvious.)

Friend of mine in northern NJ (Raritan Bay area) had to evac and came home to 4" of water in the lower floor of the duplex they rent. Plus 8"+ of water in the office building he worked in at the time in Wayne (which I think was flooded for over a week.) And when I went to visit my brother in western NYS for Labor Day I-81 and related northbound roads had lots and lots of energy company utility trucks on them in convoys. They'd been working up and down the area (and down into North Carolina) dealing with storm damage.

And a bunch of the flood control dams in NYS and PA are not there for local storms, but essentially to contain the floodwaters generated by a hurricane coming along and dumping massive amounts of rain in those drainage basins. (The dam in the Genessee gorge near Mt Morris is famous for just barely containing the rain from Andrew (?), which came within a couple of feet of overtopping it. Said dam basically prevents the Genessee River from tearing up Central Rochester when it floods.) And I was still living in Pittsburgh when Hurricane Ivan's remanents stalled out there and the flooding wrecked a Pittsburgh suburb (Etna) that is in a creek valley there.

Phillip Russell Threw Ostrich Egg At Wife, Sentenced To Six Months
[Link: www.huffingtonpost.com...]

When ostrich eggs are outlawed, only outlaws will have ostrich eggs!!
////

re: #135 Lidane

"We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers."

Someone's gonna have a real problem with that.
/

Good morning lizards!

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

.@ariannahuff is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man- he made a good decision.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2012

re: #144 makeitstop

Someone's gonna have a real problem with that.
/

Trout bait

The Washington Post's "Fact Checker" awarded Romney's ad "four Pinocchios," a measure Romney pollster Neil Newhouse dismissed.

"Fact checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs, and we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers," he said. The fact-checkers — whose institutional rise has been a feature of the cycle — have "jumped the shark," he added after the panel.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

Oh screw you Donald.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

It's been fun watching the rest of the country catch up to my profound level of disrespect for Trump. He's never been much better than this, but more and more people are seeing under the veil part.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

That's what happens when you're a loudmouth with a Twitter account and you don't have a boss to tell you to knock it off.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

I thought she was kinda hot when she was younger. The accent prolly helped.
And yes, Green Acres is the place for me.:)

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

Does anyone really care what Donald says? He's a pompous ass.

re: #148 dragonfire1981

Oh screw you Donald.

He's not much of a looker himself.

Hello. Sorry if I got carried away there last night. Was it me?

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

To start with I have no great love for Arianna. I find her a little over the top most of the time. But I suspect the Donald has gone after her deliberately. She commands substantial media resources and a feud with her could keep him in the news for a very long cycle. My sincere hope is that she doesn't take the bait.

McKinney will not be on congressional ballot

Cynthia McKinney will not be on the ballot this fall in the DeKalb County-based congressional district she once represented.

McKinney had been trying to collect signatures to run as a Green Party candidate against U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a DeKalb County Democrat, in the 4th District, but a spokesman for the Secretary of State's office confirmed Friday that McKinney did not submit any signatures by the Aug. 7 deadline.

The missed deadline was first reported by Patch.com.

McKinney still could mount a write-in campaign but her name will not appear on the ballot. She would have had to get 18,859 petition signatures to make the ballot.

...McKinney's congressional campaign account showed no contributions or spending through June aside from a personal loan of $900.

She couldn't collect any money? Face it, her political career is over even with the Green Party. Good riddance.

The goalposts seem to be moving fast these days. The wingnuts I've been chatting with seem to have gone back to their default on taxes in the wake of Romney's statements about the rates he pays, pushing the ol' "The rich pay all the taxes!" without acknowledging that they do so in raw dollar amounts. That the reality is closer to them paying a smaller percentage of their total income annually than their secretaries. Yet if their secretary is paid so little that she actually pays nothing in income taxes, she's a "freeloader" who's dragging the country down.

re: #152 CarleeCork

Does anyone really care what Donald says? He's a pompous ass.

Well he did poll ahead of anyone who had declared for the GOP primaries this time last year, then virtually everyone who actually ran had a sit-down with him. So, yes...some people do seem to care what he says.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist:

[Embedded content]

The National Weather Service has just upgraded @realdonaldtrump to a Category 1 douchebag. Developing...

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 28, 2012

re: #156 NJDhockeyfan

McKinney will not be on congressional ballot

She couldn't collect any money? Face it, her political career is over even with the Green Party. Good riddance.

She will not be missed.

I'm gobsmacked that McMahon is leading the polls in Connecticut. Freaking "independents".

re: #156 NJDhockeyfan

There was a photo of her in the story with a link to "enlarge photo". I don't think so, Sparky.

re: #146 bratwurst

The Donald is trying to challenge Rush Limbaugh for the coveted title of America's most prominent misogynist.

Meanwhile, Newt is challenging The Donald and Sheriff Joe for the coveted title of America's Most Irritating Birther:

Gingrich demands Obama release his college app & papers; wants to ask "whole range of questions" bit.ly/PLSu7O

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) August 28, 2012

re: #161 dragonath

I'm gobsmacked that McMahon is leading the polls in Connecticut. Freaking "independents".

"Independents" = Republicans who are too ashamed to associate with the GOP anymore, yet they still vote for them.

re: #163 Lidane

Meanwhile, Newt is challenging The Donald and Sheriff Joe for the coveted title of America's Most Irritating Birther:

[Embedded content]

Newt is in as much position to demand things of the President of the United States as I am.

Your fifteen minutes are over. Nobody cares what you have to say outside of your echo chamber. Go make a few more motivational speeches; maybe they'll help you retire your campaign debt.

re: #163 Lidane

Meanwhile, Newt is challenging The Donald and Sheriff Joe for the coveted title of America's Most Irritating Birther:

[Embedded content]

Neither candidate has released their college transcripts. The only way we knew about Romney and the hair-cutting incident is because somebody in the press was determined enough to dig up some high school records.

Meanwhile, Obama's released 12 years of tax returns and Romney's released 1.

re: #163 Lidane

Meanwhile, Newt is challenging The Donald and Sheriff Joe for the coveted title of America's Most Irritating Birther:

[Embedded content]

It looks like they're attempting a full-court press of questions, demands and accusations from 50 different directions, with the intent of driving down Obama's positives.

What was that acronym again? FUD? Yeah, that's it.

re: #164 Lidane

"Independents" = Republicans who are too ashamed to associate with the GOP anymore, yet they still vote for them.

What about Joe Lieberman? He was a Democrat.

re: #164 Lidane

"Independents" = Republicans who are too ashamed to associate with the GOP anymore, yet they still vote for them.

While telling anybody who will listen that they'd rather Ron Paul was the nominee, but will vote Republican anyway to keep Obama from winning.

re: #168 NJDhockeyfan

What about Joe Lieberman? He was a Democrat.

In name only. When he appeared at the GOP convention shilling for Gramps McCain, he burned every bridge in sight.

re: #170 makeitstop

In name only. When he appeared at the GOP convention shilling for Gramps McCain, he burned every bridge in sight.

And now I'd like to introduce my good friend and a great Republican, the honorable Joe Lieberman #RNCkeynoteSpeechBullets

— Shoq Value (@Shoq) August 28, 2012

re: #168 NJDhockeyfan

What about Joe Lieberman? He was a Democrat.

The point stands. Lieberman's as much of a Democrat as Zell Miller.

re: #168 NJDhockeyfan

What about Joe Lieberman? He was a Democrat.

The comment was about voters not politicians. Plus Lieberman was still aligned to the Dems even as an Indy.

re: #173 Kronocide

The comment was about voters not politicians. Plus Lieberman was still aligned to the Dems even as an Indy.

"With us on everything but the war" = "Eh we'll pick him up for votes that don't actually matter"

Totally fucked up hate crime in Detroit...

MSU student: Alleged attackers made Nazi, Hitler symbols, said they were with the KKK

EAST LANSING -- A Michigan State University Student attacked at an off-campus party says his attackers made anti-Semitic remarks and gestures before beating him so severely his broken jaw required surgery.

Zachary Tennen, a 19-year-old journalism student from Franklin, Mich., said he was attacked early Sunday morning at an off-campus party. He underwent surgery Monday night to repair his broken jaw, multiple media outlets have reported.

According to the Detroit Free Press, after asking Tennen if he was Jewish, the two male attackers "raised their arms in a Nazi salute, chanting "Heil Hitler" and then knocked Tennen unconscious."

In an interview with Detroit television station WDIV, Zachary Tennen said his attackers "were making Nazi and Hitler symbols and they said they were part of the KKK."

The Ku Klux Klan is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The victim was unconscious at some point, according to multiple media reports.

When he woke up, he found a staple in his mouth, he told WDIV, leading him to believe his attackers had attempted to staple his mouth shut.

"It was coming up in my two bottom teeth and it started in my gum, so, somehow they managed to staple it," Tennen said.

re: #175 NJDhockeyfan

Totally fucked up hate crime in Detroit...

MSU student: Alleged attackers made Nazi, Hitler symbols, said they were with the KKK

I kind of laughed when I read this.

The Ku Klux Klan is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Really?

It's nice to see that Penn State put more thought into removing Sweet Caroline from airplay at football games than it ever did to investigating Jerry Sandusky's sex abuse of kids. School officials claim that they have reviewed the propriety of playing the song for the last few years before deciding to eliminate the Neil Diamond hit ahead of the current football season.

Priorities.

Whoever thought republican Darrell Issa had already plumbed the depths of douchebaggery needs to readjust their expectations:

Rep Darrell Issa "If only men voted, Republicans would win every election"#GOP2012 twitter.com/MatthewsABC7/s...

— Mark Matthews (@MatthewsABC7) August 28, 2012

re: #178 Interesting Times

What war on women? ////

re: #173 Kronocide

The comment was about voters not politicians. Plus Lieberman was still aligned to the Dems even as an Indy.

Even in the case of voters, Independents are coming from both parties, more so from the Democratic rolls in the past 4 years.
Party registration declines

re: #175 NJDhockeyfan

Totally fucked up hate crime in Detroit...

MSU student: Alleged attackers made Nazi, Hitler symbols, said they were with the KKK

I hope this does not turn out to be another "fake hate crime." Is it possible? People have done some really dumb and harmful stuff while drunk.

re: #178 Interesting Times

Whoever thought republican Darrell Issa had already plumbed the depths of douchebaggery needs to readjust their expectations:

[Embedded content]

Big Tent!

Both Buckley brothers supported Lieberman over the moderate Republican in the 1988 campaign.

They destroyed the Republican's moderate wing one step at a time.

Rep Darrell Issa "If only men voted, Republicans would win every election"#GOP2012 twitter.com/MatthewsABC7/s...

— Mark Matthews (@MatthewsABC7) August 28, 2012

Gotta play taxi. BIAB.

re: #184 Lidane

Beat you to it a few posts up. But no matter. It needs to be repeated and repeated until even Corporate Media™ GOP apologists are forced to report it.

re: #157 Targetpractice

The goalposts seem to be moving fast these days. The wingnuts I've been chatting with seem to have gone back to their default on taxes in the wake of Romney's statements about the rates he pays, pushing the ol' "The rich pay all the taxes!" without acknowledging that they do so in raw dollar amounts. That the reality is closer to them paying a smaller percentage of their total income annually than their secretaries. Yet if their secretary is paid so little that she actually pays nothing in income taxes, she's a "freeloader" who's dragging the country down.

Remind them when they say "the top 10% pay 70% of the taxes in this country" remind them that it is estimated that the top 10% also own 85 - 89% of the wealth in this country. Ask them why they aren't paying their fair share. That 15 - 19% of taxes on that wealth comes from somewhere other than the top 10%'s wealth. Wonder where it comes from? Must be from those freeloaders htat get hit with taxes the 10% have been able to avoid because they can buy law makers to create loopholes that they can reach but the lowlifes have to buck up to cover. Like paying for Rmoney's horse to the tune of $77,000 in tax breaks a year.

ARE YOU PEOPLE EXCITED FOR ANN'S ESPEECH TONIGHT? #Tampax

— Mexican Mitt Romney (@MexicanMitt) August 28, 2012

re: #186 Interesting Times

Beat you to it a few posts up. But no matter. It needs to be repeated and repeated until even Corporate Media™ GOP apologists are forced to report it.

We both know they won't report it, or if they do it will be with the excuse that Issa was taken out of context.

The GOP are bound and determined to become the party of cranky white men.

Given what gasbags their reps generally are, this comes as no surprise:

22 Of The Top 25 CO2 Emitting Congressional Districts In 2009 Were Republican bit.ly/Oqzx6J

— Climate Progress (@climateprogress) August 28, 2012

Paul Ryan Defends Redefinition of Rape as Just "Stock Language" mojo.ly/QOO2Rq

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 28, 2012

re: #189 Lidane

We both know they won't report it, or if they do it will be with the excuse that Issa was taken out of context.

The GOP are bound and determined to become the party of cranky white men.

Yeah those women should just shut the hell up and make some more boy babies.

re: #191 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Apparently nobody taught Paul while growing up about what you do when you find yourself in a hole.

Expect to hear #Tampax jokes coming off of Tampa #gop convention. It's that lack of feminine care position. Insert it please. #funny

— Lisa Radin (@milguy23) August 24, 2012

re: #187 RayFerd

Remind them when they say "the top 10% pay 70% of the taxes in this country" remind them that it is estimated that the top 10% also own 85 - 89% of the wealth in this country. Ask them why they aren't paying their fair share. That 15 - 19% of taxes on that wealth comes from somewhere other than the top 10%'s wealth. Wonder where it comes from? Must be from those freeloaders htat get hit with taxes the 10% have been able to avoid because they can buy law makers to create loopholes that they can reach but the lowlifes have to buck up to cover. Like paying for Rmoney's horse to the tune of $77,000 in tax breaks a year.

While I agree with the sentiment, we don't tax based on wealth, but on income. Wealth gets taxed when you check out of this mortal coil(ostensibly, unless you have very good tax attorneys).

re: #33 Kragar

Its like blaming Boeing for the WTC.

um... not to derail your narrative (okay, maybe derailing a little bit), but starting in the mid-1980's Israeli consultants repeatedly urged Boeing to have thicker, lockable cockpit doors with reinforced hinges on all their aircraft.

But that would have added a few hundred bucks to the construction cost of an $80 million dollar airplane, and the extra weight might have added .05% to the fuel consumption, so they decided the cost wasn't worth it.

In personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, juries are often instructed to consider proportional responsibility. Boeing is not entirely blameless.

Economic illiteracy for everybody! Whee!

Gingrich: I'd recommend pro-gold activists for a Romney gold commission. mojo.ly/RUBgIe

— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 28, 2012

re: #184 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Sounds like Issa is cribbing from Ann Coulter:

[Link: observer.com...]

Coulter: "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women."

re: #180 danarchy

Even in the case of voters, Independents are coming from both parties, more so from the Democratic rolls in the past 4 years.
Party registration declines

And there are those of us that have never, ever been anything else but unaffiliated with any party. Plus there is a difference these days between American Independent Party and Not Affiliated. There is an American Independent Party that is mostly right leaning. I, on the other hand, am Not Affiliated with any party (noted as 'NF' on the voter rolls, as opposed to 'NA' which has a totally different meaning so I guess they had to go with 'NF').

re: #198 simoom

What worries me is that if enough of these cretins start making that idiotic argument, then people will start to take it seriously.

Ann Romney on learning to use a TelePrompTer: "I don't like it. It's hard. We'll see how I do."

— Sam Youngman (@samyoungman) August 28, 2012

re: #152 CarleeCork

Does anyone really care what Donald says? He's a pompous ass.

I don't and would not miss it if nobody ever reposted one of his Twitter bloviation here again...

re: #191 Lidane

Paul Ryan Defends Redefinition of Rape as Just "Stork Language"

There...that seems to be where they get answers to the question "where do babies come from"?

re: #197 Lidane

Economic illiteracy for everybody! Whee!

[Embedded content]

Because really, what America needs right now is massive deflation and loss of confidence in the dollar.

re: #195 danarchy

While I agree with the sentiment, we don't tax based on wealth, but on income. Wealth gets taxed when you check out of this mortal coil(ostensibly, unless you have very good tax attorneys).

And that income is not taxed equitably. The non earned income is not taxed as income from work. So they get the wealth without having to cover the taxes that a working person would have to pay for that same income. Because they wrote the law to make it that way.

re: #204 Targetpractice

Because really, what America needs right now is massive deflation and loss of confidence in the dollar.

Everyone knows that tying the value of the dollar to a precious metal or commodity is more secure. Ron Paul says so!

Why do you hate America?

re: #181 Learned Mother of Zion

I hope this does not turn out to be another "fake hate crime." Is it possible? People have done some really dumb and harmful stuff while drunk.

shit like this is never that black and white. that is the trouble I have with "hate crime " legislation, even though I support the principle:

For example: suppose a black gang member kills a white gang member (or vice versa) in the course of a botched drug deal that goes astray when one side or the other utters a racial slur...Is that gang violence, drug violence or a hate crime?

re: #207 Expand Your Ground

shit like this is never that black and white. that is the trouble I have with "hate crime " legislation, even though I support the principle:

For example: suppose a black gang member kills a white gang member (or vice versa) in the course of a botched drug deal that goes astray when one side or the other utters a racial slur...Is that gang violence, drug violence or a hate crime?

Yes.

Romney Adviser Lowers Expectations For Post-Convention Bump buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/r... via @buzzfeed

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) August 28, 2012

re: #209 Lidane

'Romney Lowers Expectations' is really the theme of 2012.

Add me to the crazy camp:

Pat Robertson says you must be "out of your mind" to support marriage equality for gays & lesbians bit.ly/OqE5Kv

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) August 28, 2012

re: #207 Expand Your Ground

shit like this is never that black and white. that is the trouble I have with "hate crime " legislation, even though I support the principle:

For example: suppose a black gang member kills a white gang member (or vice versa) in the course of a botched drug deal that goes astray when one side or the other utters a racial slur...Is that gang violence, drug violence or a hate crime?

I was thinking more along the lines of "Guy gets drunk and does something really stupid and hurts himself, then makes up a fake hate crime to cover up how stupid and drunk he was"

re: #212 Learned Mother of Zion

I was thinking more along the lines of "Guy gets drunk and does something really stupid and hurts himself, then makes up a fake hate crime to cover up how stupid and drunk he was"

There was a case of that here in Germany as well. Cannot recall the details, but it caused quite a stink in the tabloids before it was uncovered.

And hate crimes have the sort of tabloid appeal that is reserved for child molesters and celebrity catfights, by the time the dust settles and the facts are revealed, lives and reputations can be ruined.

Rush Limbaugh Suggests Obama Manipulated Hurricane Predictions To Get GOP To Cancel Convention
Category 5 Derp!

re: #195 danarchy

While I agree with the sentiment, we don't tax based on wealth, but on income. Wealth gets taxed when you check out of this mortal coil(ostensibly, unless you have very good tax attorneys).

Except the "death tax" was abolished. Not sure if it came back, but if it did, you can bet a top GOP priority will be abolishing it again.

re: #215 aagcobb

Except the "death tax" was abolished. Not sure if it came back, but if it did, you can bet a top GOP priority will be abolishing it again.

Yes, it's come back....

re: #157 Targetpractice

The goalposts seem to be moving fast these days. The wingnuts I've been chatting with seem to have gone back to their default on taxes in the wake of Romney's statements about the rates he pays, pushing the ol' "The rich pay all the taxes!" without acknowledging that they do so in raw dollar amounts. That the reality is closer to them paying a smaller percentage of their total income annually than their secretaries. Yet if their secretary is paid so little that she actually pays nothing in income taxes, she's a "freeloader" who's dragging the country down.

[Link: www.theamericanconservative.com...]

But millions of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes do pay federal payroll taxes. These taxes are regressive, and the dirty little secret is that over the last several decades they have made up a greater and greater share of federal revenues. In 1950, payroll and other federal retirement contributions constituted 10.9 percent of all federal revenues. By 2007, the last “normal” economic year before federal revenues began falling, they made up 33.9 percent. By contrast, corporate income taxes were 26.4 percent of federal revenues in 1950. By 2007 they had fallen to 14.4 percent. So who has skin in the game?

re: #217 sagehen

Not to mention sales taxes, gasoline taxes, property taxes, etc...

re: #214 Varek Raith

Rush Limbaugh Suggests Obama Manipulated Hurricane Predictions To Get GOP To Cancel Convention
Category 5 Derp!

Samuel L. Jackson is upset the RNC didn't get hit by the storm.

Isaac now officially back up to Cat 1 strength.

Isaac upgraded to hurricane status: tpm.ly/OHdECa

— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) August 28, 2012

re: #220 Targetpractice

Isaac now officially back up to Cat 1 strength.

Better than what they were forecasting yesterday which was a Cat 2..

re: #219 NJDhockeyfan

Samuel L. Jackson is upset the RNC didn't get hit by the storm.

Samuel L. Jackson thinks it’s some “unfair s---” if Hurricane Issac hits New Orleans instead of Tampa, the site of this week’s Republican National Convention.

“Unfair S---t: GOP spared by Issac ! NOLA prolly F-----d Again!” the actor tweeted on Monday. “Not understanding God's plan!”

Shortly after, Jackson wrote, "Daayum! Poked a Hornets nest, hunh? Apologies to God, Tampa, da GOP& Isaac(sp)! Who played the Race card?!"

Where is it apparent Samuel Jackson is upset the RNC didn't get hit by a storm?

re: #223 Kronocide

Where is it apparent Samuel Jackson is upset the RNC didn't get hit by a storm?

Uh, “Unfair S---t: GOP spared by Issac ! NOLA prolly F-----d Again!”

Flip (8/09)

“You know, in the past, when people pointed out that something was inaccurate, why, campaigns pulled the ad,” Romney said on the radio. “They were embarrassed. Today, they just blast ahead. You know, the various fact checkers look at some of these charges in the Obama ads and they say that they’re wrong, and inaccurate, and yet he just keeps on running them.”

Flop (8/28)

"Fact checkers come to this with their own sets of thoughts and beliefs, and we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers," [Romney pollster Neil Newhouse] said.

Some people here are going to vote for this man.

re: #218 Expand Your Ground

Not to mention sales taxes, gasoline taxes, property taxes, etc...

Exactly. The poor pay, as a percentage, more of their income in taxes than the rich, but they're "freeloaders" because the rich pay more in dollar amounts. And if you point out that the rich can avoid paying income taxes altogether through tax loopholes, putting them in that infamous "half the country" crowd, the wingnut's eyes spin around as he whines "that's how it's supposed to work!"

lemme expand a previous statemnt about Trump Twitters: I do not Twitter or follow Twitter and really would not miss it if nobody ever reposted a Twitter comment her ever again.

And I would like someone to peel me a grape...

re: #210 erik_t

'Romney Lowers Expectations' is really the theme of 2012.

Immediately reminded me of MAD TV. Good times:

re: #225 erik_t

Flip (8/09)

Flop (8/28)

Some people here are going to vote for this man.

They're voting for the party, not the man. The man they hate with a passion, but the party they support because it means throwing Obama out of office.

re: #205 RayFerd

And that income is not taxed equitably. The non earned income is not taxed as income from work. So they get the wealth without having to cover the taxes that a working person would have to pay for that same income. Because they wrote the law to make it that way.

It depends how you define equitably. It has been said before and I will say it again, the tax code is not and should not be about "fairness". Fair is a subjective thing. The tax code should be about maximizing revenues while not hurting the economy as a whole, which would have the effect of reducing revenues in the end. Is that point somewhere north of 15%, probably, but it is not likely to be as high as the income tax rate.

Floor fight averted? One delegate says "plenty of fireworks still to come perhaps." bit.ly/Nv0dIJ

— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) August 28, 2012

re: #231 Lidane

[Embedded content]

Averted? What, did they shit-can the rule about allowing Romney to fire Paulian delegates?

One of the bad things about this storm is it's slow movement which is going to dump a lot of rain as it travels up Louisiana.

re: #229 Targetpractice

They're voting for the party, not the man. The man they hate with a passion, but the party they support because it means throwing Obama out of office.

Well, they're voting for half of Mitt Romney. I'm probably voting for the other half of Mitt Romney.

There's a candidate for everyone in Mitt Romney.

re: #222 NJDhockeyfan

Better than what they were forecasting yesterday which was a Cat 2..

Yes, but the rain event of this slow moving gusher is going to be as bad or worse than Katrina if the predictions and the storms movement (or lack of movement) is any indication. Winds and storm surge not as bad, possible downpour in inches as bad or worse.

re: #221 Lidane

[Embedded content]

And I'm officially hunkered down though not much beyond a few rain bands through here yet. I finally got all the random items/potential flying projectiles out of my yard and stored away. My only concern is tree limbs. Hopefully nothing will hit the house.

re: #233 NJDhockeyfan

One of the bad things about this storm is it's slow movement which is going to dump a lot of rain as it travels up Louisiana.

Mixed blessing, from what it seems. All the rainfall is going to help those parts of the country in its path which have been undergoing drought conditions.

re: #235 RayFerd

Yes, but the rain event of this slow moving gusher is going to be as bad or worse than Katrina if the predictions and the storms movement (or lack of movement) is any indication. Winds and storm surge not as bad, possible downpour in inches as bad or worse.

I'm hoping it saves some for the Midwest. Probably too late to save the corn crop, but the water table could use some replenishment.

This should set a few bloggers off:

French prosecutors open murder inquiry into death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, sources tell AFP bbc.in/OHeBdy

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 28, 2012

re: #230 danarchy

It depends how you define equitably. It has been said before and I will say it again, the tax code is not and should not be about "fairness". Fair is a subjective thing. The tax code should be about maximizing revenues while not hurting the economy as a whole, which would have the effect of reducing revenues in the end. Is that point somewhere north of 15%, probably, but it is not likely to be as high as the income tax rate.

Then we have nothing to discuss, because i think fairness is the whole ball of wax.

re: #224 NJDhockeyfan

Uh, “Unfair S---t: GOP spared by Issac ! NOLA prolly F-----d Again!”

So 'unfair shit/GOP spared/NOLA prolly f'ed again' = Jackson upset the storm didn't disrupt the RNC?

You can't seem to comprehend mockery.

re: #235 RayFerd

Yes, but the rain event of this slow moving gusher is going to be as bad or worse than Katrina if the predictions and the storms movement (or lack of movement) is any indication. Winds and storm surge not as bad, possible downpour in inches as bad or worse.

Another concern is the oil resting on the bottom of the Gulf. I would expect Isaac to send a bunch of it with the with the water into the mainland. What a fucking mess.

re: #239 Lidane

This should set a few bloggers off:

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And a lot of the usual stupid conspiracy theorists. I tell ya. After that "Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020" report from the UN, the Rachel Corrie verdict and this. Things are getting pretty ugly.

re: #240 RayFerd

Then we have nothing to discuss, because i think fairness is the whole ball of wax.

Really? If you knew that raising the capital gains rate to 35% would result in lost revenue for the government and a shrinking GDP you would do it anyway? Wouldn't that hurt the very people you are trying to be "fair" to?

I have an idea. After this let's keep rebuilding areas that were built below sea level. That would makes sense. Science!

re: #244 danarchy

Really? If you knew that raising the capital gains rate to 35% would result in lost revenue for the government and a shrinking GDP you would do it anyway? Wouldn't that hurt the very people you are trying to be "fair" to?

Much of the last century, the top rate was at or above 70%. But that was before the days of "trickle down" and the idea that the best tax policy is one where the rich keep as much of their money as possible in the hopes that they'll pass some of that on to the lower classes.

Having an Elspeth moment.

re: #240 RayFerd

Then we have nothing to discuss, because i think fairness is the whole ball of wax.

I agree with danarchy that it has to be enough to allow government to do its job (and the role of government and how it should go about fulfilling that role is a discussion in itself) without hurting the economy.

A low tax rate and fewer loopholes (prettty much the Swiss model) encourages people to put more of their energies into creating wealth and less into finding or creating ways to protect it from taxation.

And it should be "fair", as in equitable: those who are expected to pay should not have any valid grounds to maintain that they are being fleeced at the expense of the others. (not that they won't whine, regardless of the tax rate, the tax code or its level of real or perceived "fairness")

re: #227 Expand Your Ground

lemme expand a previous statemnt about Trump Twitters: I do not Twitter or follow Twitter and really would not miss it if nobody ever reposted a Twitter comment her ever again.

And I would like someone to peel me a grape...

This one is for you:

Erzähl mir von Liebe, Mannheimerbahnhofskneipestammgast.

— Shit Germans Say (@ShitGermansSay) August 26, 2012

re: #246 Targetpractice

Much of the last century, the top rate was at or above 70%. But that was before the days of "trickle down" and the idea that the best tax policy is one where the rich keep as much of their money as possible in the hopes that they'll pass some of that on to the lower classes.

We are talking about capital gains, which has never been taxed above 40% to my knowledge.

re: #247 Kronocide

Having an Elspeth moment.

the audacity of hope...

re: #249 wrenchwench

This one is for you:

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To which I say: Pfirsischstreuselblechkuchenschnitten!

GOP governors attack Obama's welfare waivers after requesting flexibility: tpm.ly/OHfJxY

— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) August 28, 2012

re: #244 danarchy

Really? If you knew that raising the capital gains rate to 35% would result in lost revenue for the government and a shrinking GDP you would do it anyway? Wouldn't that hurt the very people you are trying to be "fair" to?

When you can show that it will, I might. Can you show it will do that? Has it historically done that? Not predictions but solid facts that it will. Not some rich bastard saying it will, but verifiable facts that it will? How would it hurt the people that I am trying to help? The people that just spent their last $5 dollars for gas to get to work to pick up their paycheck? They are not playing in the capital gains game, they are playing in the work for a paycheck game. And if you think the person that owns the place they work will shut down because they will have to pay more for their gambling wins then you live in a very high class place away from the mom and pop pizza shops and corner grocery stores (not Walmart corporate feces).

re: #252 Expand Your Ground

To which I say: Pfirsischstreuselblechkuchenschnitten!

Google Translate thinks you made that up.

re: #255 wrenchwench

Google Translate thinks you made that up.

Peach crumble sheet cake slices